France Football magazine, which organizes the Golden Ball, swears that confidentiality is total until the envelope is opened with the name of the winner. But a few minutes before the culmination of the ceremony a group of Paris Saint-Germain organized crowd, the so-called “Ultras”, began to cluster on the sidewalk against the Châtelet theater. At least they had no doubt.
As soon as Ronaldinho Gaúcho, in his suits, announced the name of the winner, Ousmane Dembélé, this group began a deafening party, with fireworks, red smoke signals and PSG flags.
“OUSMANE, Ballon d’Or! Ousmane, Ballon d’Or!” The scream was the same as Parisian fans chant since May 31, when Dembélé had a decisive performance in the Champions League final, a historic 5-0 rout over Internazionale.
Inside the theater, the crowd was clear by the local hero. PSG fanatic, the French DJ Snake, chosen to announce the men’s team’s award of the year, pulled the most famous war of the stands of the Princes Park.
“Ici [aqui]… “, Provocou.” It’s Paris [é Paris]! “, replied in unison the audience.
When the former player and ceremony master Ruud Gullit asked Lamine Yamal-who had just received the best under-21 player-if he expected to take the stage again to receive the main prize, the Spanish young man smiled, exposing the device on his teeth, and bumping: “I don’t know”.
In his effort to imitate the Oscar, the Golden Ball inevitably provides cancer moments. As much as football idols today are used to celebrity, they lack the traquejo of film actors.
Given improvise, Gullit begged Dutch Sarina Wiegman to train the Netherlands again, as if she had no contract with the English team. The microphone did not capture the coach’s embarrassed response well: “I will still spend some time in England.”
Sarina was called “Sabrina” by the head of the year’s coach award, former Italian coach Fabio Capello-Algo seen by many as a symptom of how women women still need to face male greek.
Now owner of three gold balls, the Spanish Aitana Bonmati stressed that this year all men’s awards had a female equivalent. “The repercussion that [a premiação] It has a lot of help women’s football. “
There was embarrassment when Gigio Donnarumma received the award for best goalkeeper. He was practically shook from PSG at the end of the season, even though he was one of the heroes of the Champions League conquest. The Italian thanked the “former companions” and … to his new club, Manchester City of England.
Minutes later, it was PSG’s turn, the leader Qatari Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, taking the stage to receive the men’s team trophy of the year. Al-Khelaïfi made a reference “to all players and coaches before, [inclusive] Gigio, of course “.
Outside, Donnarumma received a consecrating PSG fans. Al-Khelaïfi, too. “Presidentity! Presidentity!” Shouted the Parisians.
On the way out, players and guests ran to the vans that would lead them to post-pre-pre-pre-premium gala dinners. Using a flashy pair of yellow sneakers, Brazilian influencer Mason Glove mourned the classification of the best Brazilian in the Golden Ball, Raphinha, Barcelona. “Fifth place? It’s F …, hey.”
